Facebook Inc has been slammed with a hefty $5billion fine by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission following its investigation into the social media company’s handling of user data, multiple sources familiar with the situation said.
The FTC has been investigating allegations Facebook inappropriately shared information belonging to 87 million users with the now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The probe has focused on whether the data sharing violated a 2011 consent agreement between Facebook and the regulator.
Investors cheered news of the deal and pushed Facebook shares up 1.8%, while several powerful Democratic lawmakers in Washington condemned the proposed penalty as inadequate.
The FTC is expected to include in the settlement other restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also said that the agency vote was along party lines, with three Republicans voting to approve it and two Democrats opposed.
The settlement would be the largest civil penalty ever paid to the agency.
The FTC and Facebook declined to comment.
Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat and chair of a congressional antitrust panel, called the $5 billion penalty “a Christmas present five months early.”
“This fine is a fraction of Facebook’s annual revenue. It won’t make them think twice about their responsibility to protect user data,” he said.
Facebook’s revenue for the first quarter of this year was $15.1 billion while its net income was $2.43 billion. It would have been higher, but Facebook set aside $3 billion for the FTC penalty.
While the deal resolves a major regulatory headache for Facebook, the Silicon Valley firm still faces further potential antitrust probes as the FTC and Justice Department undertake a wide-ranging review of competition among the biggest U.S. tech companies.
It is also facing public criticism from President Donald Trump and others about its planned cryptocurrency Libra over concerns about privacy and money laundering.
The Cambridge Analytica missteps, as well as anger over hate speech and misinformation on its platform, have also prompted calls from people ranging from presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren to a Facebook co-founder, Chris Hughes, for the government to force the social media giant to sell Instagram, which it bought in 2012, and WhatsApp, purchased in 2014.
But the company’s core business has proven resilient, as Facebook blew past earnings estimates in the past two quarters.
While details of the agreement are unknown, in a letter to the FTC earlier this year, Senators Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and Josh Hawley, a Republican, told the agency that even a $5 billion civil penalty was too little and that top officials, potentially including founder Mark Zuckerberg, should be held personally responsible.
FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, a Democrat, has said the agency should hold executives responsible for violations of consent decrees if they participated in the violations. Chopra did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
The settlement still needs to be finalized by the Justice Department’s Civil Division and a final announcement could come as early as next week, the source said.
A source knowledgeable about the settlement negotiations had told Reuters in May any agreement would put Facebook under 20 years of oversight.
Tag: Fine
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U.S. Govt slams Facebook $5b fine over privacy breaches
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Extradition: Court fines Kashamu for delaying suit against DSS, NDLEA
The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered Senator Buruji Kashamu to pay N50,000 cost each to the Department of State Services (DSS) Director-General and the National Drug law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke awarded the punitive cost against him for delaying his suit against them and others.
Kashamu is seeking to stop his extradition to the United States of America (U.S.A) over drug-related charges.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Commissioner of Police, Lagos Police Command and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) are the other respondents.
The senator representing Ogun East is praying the court to restrain the respondents and their agents from arresting, detaining him or interfering with his right to personal liberty and freedom of movement.
Yesterday, Kashamu’s lawyer Mrs Ifeoma Esom was absent.
She sought an adjournment on the suit through a letter to the court, saying she had another matter at the Court of Appeal.
Counsel to DSS, Mr O. Bajela and J. N. Sunday (for NDLEA) noted that the case had been adjourned severally at the plaintiff’s instance.
They asked for N100,000 and N200,000 costs against the plaintiff.
Justice Aneke awarded them N50,000 each.
The judge had taken arguments in the suit and had reserved judgment until April 29.
But judgment could not be delivered that day as the period fell within the Easter vacation, and the court did not sit.
The matter was adjourned till May 10 but could not hold due to a fresh issue raised by the plaintiff.
In a supporting affidavit, the applicant averred that the AGF was reported to have said that the U.S. Government had been told to make a fresh request for Kashamu’s extradition.
He averred that in a proceeding instituted in England by the U.S. authorities between 2002 and 2003, it was established that the senator was not the one implicated in the alleged narcotics offence committed in the U.S. in 1994.
But, the NDLEA, in a preliminary objection, said U.S. authorities were seeking to extradite Kashamu to answer charges relating to heroine trafficking.
According to NDLEA, the U.S. Government made a request to the Nigerian government for the applicant to be extradited in May 2015.
“By the established principles of international law, and our domestic Extradition Act, Nigeria is under obligation to inquire into all extradition requests of countries with which it has extradition treaties with a view to determining whether there is a basis for granting such requests.
“This process of inquiry will involve the adjudicatory processes of the courts, including the appeal process by an aggrieved party.
“The claims of the applicant of any exoneration or lack of evidence of wrongdoing are to be ventilated at the court inquiring into the extradition request,” NDLEA said.
NDLEA debunked Kashamu’s claim that he had been cleared of drug trafficking allegations.
“The applicant has never been exonerated of complicity of any crime by any court either in Nigeria, the United States of America or the United Kingdom,” the agency said.
NDLEA said Kashamu got wind of the extradition request and filed multiple lawsuits on the matter.
It averred that in all the lawsuits, Kashamu sought a restraining order against it from arresting and extraditing him to the U.S.
The agency said the senator’s suit and others were intended to stop it from discharging its duties.
Besides, NDLEA said it had not received any directive to arrest Kashamu over the extradition request.
“The existence of such directive, order or instruction is a ruse fabricated by the applicant to justify and sustain this suit,” the agency added.
Justice Aneke adjourned until October 31 for hearing.
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EPL: Arsenal coach Unai Emery fined for kicking bottle
Unai Emery has been fined £8,000 by the Football Association after he admitted improper conduct during Arsenal’s game against Brighton for kicking a bottle towards a fan.
The Arsenal head coach was charged last week over the incident which happened late on in their Boxing Day draw against Brighton at the Amex Stadium and was not included in the officials’ match report.
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$18b fine: MTN resumes talks with FG for 'mutually acceptable solution'
Telecoms firm MTN is holding talks with Nigerian officials to find a “mutually acceptable solution” to the dispute over the alleged transfer of $8.1 billion, the firm said on Tuesday in a statement from Johannesburg.
It said further announcement on the issue would be made in due course, advising “shareholders to continue to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s securities until a further announcement is made.”
MTN and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are in a dispute over the transfer of $8.1 billion which the bank said the company had sent abroad and breaches foreign-exchange regulations.
But CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said while addressing reporters on October 7 in London that the CBN may reduce the amount it had ordered MTN Nigeria to repatriate.
Emefiele said new documents provided by the telecom company would help to reduce the size of the claim.
“I don’t think it will be staying at $8.1billion. I want to believe that the figure will reduce. Whether it will be dropped completely, I honestly cannot say at this time,” he added.
The CBN chief said the apex bank had received documents about four weeks ago from MTN and four lenders involved in the case.
The lenders are Standard Chartered, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Citibank and Diamond Bank.
Emefiele said the apex bank was in communication with all parties involved. -
$8.1bn fine: Emefiele hints on possible reduction, settling issues 'amicably' with MTN
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele on Sunday said the apex bank may reduce the $8.1billion it ordered MTN Nigeria to repatriate as part of efforts to resolve the crisis.
Recall that the MTN and the CBN are in a dispute over the transfer of $8.1 billion of funds which the bank said the company had sent abroad in breach of foreign-exchange regulations. Nigeria accounts for a third of MTN’s annual core profit.
“I don’t think it will be staying at $8.1 billion,” Emefiele said during a visit to London, adding he expected the issue to be dealt with “amicably and equitably”.
“I want to believe that the figures will reduce. Whether they will be dropped completely, I honestly cannot say at this time.”
Emefiele said the CBN had received documents two weeks ago from MTN and four lenders involved in the case –
Standard Chartered, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Citibank and Diamond Bank – and was in communications with all parties involved.
“The central bank will be examining these, then it will be escalated up to my level,” he said, adding he expected to get the results in a couple of weeks.
The two sides are locked in a court dispute over the transaction. The central bank filed a counter-claim on Friday to a court request by MTN, which is seeking to stop the bank from forcing it to bring back the money.
Emefiele said the MTN case was a one-off, and the central bank was not looking at transactions involving any other companies operating in Nigeria.
“We respect the sanctity of these companies,” he said.
Shares in MTN lost almost five per cent over the past week.
Emefiele also said the CBN would continue to intervene in the foreign exchange markets, adding that he believed in a stable exchange rate regime.
Nigeria has been battling to defend its currency and shore up its reserves of around $44 billion, hobbled by lower oil prices. At the same time, the oil exporter has suffered from high inflation, which edged up to 11.2 percent at its last reading – well above the central bank’s 6-9 percent target.
Emefiele said Nigeria’s current stance of monetary tightening would continue.
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Rafael Benitez fined £60K for referee comments
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez has been fined £60,000 after accepting a charge for commenting about the referee prior to his team’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace last month.
Benitez was responding to Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, who had said he was not being protected by referees.
The Spaniard said he had “a lot of confidence” in referee Andre Marriner.
The Football Association constituted the comments as improper conduct and/or bringing the game into disrepute.
FA rules state managers are not allowed to talk about specific referees prior to a game.
Zaha had said he believed that he would need to have his leg broken before opponents were show a red card.
Benitez responded: “I am surprised because normally the FA deal with these comments. I have a lot of confidence with Andre Marriner.
“He has a lot of experience, even if his record with our players is not that great in terms of red cards. He is an experienced referee.
“Zaha is a good player, no doubt about that, but I think the FA have to deal with his comments. I think Andre Marriner will not have this in the back of his head.
“The way that he [Zaha] plays, normally, he will receive more tackles than other players because he likes to run at players. It won’t make any difference for our players.”
The game finished 0-0. -
Ronaldo wants Real Madrid to pay his £26.45m fine
Cristiano Ronaldo has told Real Madrid he wants them to pay his fine to the Spanish tax office, according to The Sun.
The former Manchester United man was hit with a charge for allegedly defrauding the government of £13m last year.
And El Confidencial reports that, as things stand, he has struck a deal to pay the tax authorities a total sum of £26.45m (€30m) to avoid spending time in jail.
It adds that, amid contract negotiations, Ronaldo, 33, has requested Real Madrid pay the fee — but the club have refused.
It is understood that the amount he will ultimately have to hand over will be relative to his earnings.
The Portugese current net salary of £340,000-a-week is dwarfed the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar, who he is seeking parity with.
Both the striker and Spanish tax authorities want the matter sorted soon — ideally before the start of the World Cup.
Last summer, and during the early part of this season, rumours emanating from Ronaldo’s camp suggested he wanted to leave as he was unhappy.
And one of the reasons cited was that he felt a lack of protection from the club over his problems with the tax authorities.
However, he found a new lease of life since 2018 and has been instrumental in Los Blancos’ march to a third-consecutive Champions League final — and is in talks over a new contract.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has made it clear to Real the five players he does not want in the team next season, according to reports in Spain.
Los Blancos are expected to undergo a major squad revamp in the summer, according to Daily Star.
And club president Florentino Perez is concerned by the ageing problem in his side.
Their poor showing in La Liga has led many to believe that Zinedine Zidane could be axed at the end of the season too.
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Committee reveals Globacom owing Kano govt. N47 million
The Kano State House of Assembly ad-hoc Committee on Outstanding Taxes and Liabilties by GSM Service Providers, said that Globacom Ltd. owed the state government N47 million tax.
The Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Bello Butu-Butu disclosed this while presenting the ad-hoc committee’s report before the House on Tuesday in Kano.
Butu-Butu said that during the investigation, the committee discovered that the service provider had not paid their tax for three years.
He said that the N1 million earlier published by some newspapers was not the correct amount owed by the company.
The chairman explained that after failure by the service provider to pay the pending tax and levies, it was charged to pay additional amount of N15 million as fine.
“During our investigation, we realised that the number of mast mounted by globacom across the state is 145 not 175 as earlier stated by the State Government,“he said.
He said that both Globacom and the Kano Internal Revenue Services (KIRS) have agreed with the committee’s findings.
The legislator said that in spite of the globacom agreement with the finding, the committee had written to the state government to slash the pending tax to an affordable amount.
The report was adopted and the members urged the government to take more drastic action against tax defaulters in future.
They also called on the State Government to direct all revenue offices to be more proactive in carrying out their duties.
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MTN makes part payments of N330bn SIM cards fine
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that MTN has paid N165 billion out of the N330 billion fine imposed on it due to its inability to disconnect improperly registered SIM cards.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC said this on Monday in Abuja when MTN Group, led by its Chairman in Nigeria, Dr Pascal Dozie visited the commission.
In October 2015, the telecom regulator imposed a fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN Nigeria for not complying with government’s rule on deactivation of unregistered SIM cards.
Also, the fine was imposed on MTN for not disconnecting about 5.1 million improperly registered lines in its network within the stipulated deadline.
After several appeals and negotiations including diplomatic intervention by the South African government, the fine was reduced to N330billion.
MTN initially made a commitment payment of N50billion to the government while the remaining balance of N280 billion was to be paid in six tranches in accordance with the agreements between the regulator and MTN.
“I am happy to inform you that our agreement with MTN on how and when to pay the fine has been adhered to.
“Just last month, March, we received a cheque of N55billion from MTN as part of the fine payment plan.
“This brought the total fine paid by MTN Nigeria to N165billion, that is, more than half of the fine
“It is a whopping sum of money and they have not defaulted and these payments they are making is consistent with the terms of agreement we reached with them,” he said.
He said that the installmental payment was in line with the terms of agreement reached between MTN and the regulatory body.
According to Danbatta, the fine is aimed at ensuring that it is not business as usual but to ensure that the rules of engagement are respected.
“It is also to ensure that the rules governing the telecom sector of the economy is adhered to,” he said.
The NCC boss said that the commission would continue to cooperate with the telecom company because of its major contributions to the economic and digital growth of the nation’s economy.
Earlier, Chairman of MTN Nigeria said Nigeria was one of the largest contributors to its market and the visit was to cement the relationship between MTN and NCC.
Dozie appealed to NCC to auction more spectrums to further open up the ICT space and improve the country’s economy.
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Irregular SIM registration: MTN pays N110bn fine to FG
The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta on Thursday confirmed that telecommunications giant; MTN Nigeria has paid a total of N110bn into the coffers of the government out of the N330bn imposed on it.
Danbatta disclosed this at a workshop on Code of Corporate Governance organised by the commission in Kano on Thursday.
He also disclosed that the commission was rejigging its regulatory activities to ensure that telecommunications’ consumers get value for their money.
Recall that NCC had in October 2015 imposed a fine of N1.04tn on MTN for irregular registration of subscribers. However, after prolonged negotiation with both the regulatory agency and the Federal Government, the company had the fine reduced to N330bn.
Danbatta said the matter had been resolved with an agreement for settlement over a three-year period signed between the agency and MTN.
He said the payment was spread over a three-year period because the intention was not to snuff life out of MTN.
The NCC boss said, “Current evaluation report of the state of the industry suggests that whilst not understating the impact of other external and fiscal issues confronting the sector, that most challenges negatively affecting the health of operators in the sector today are attributable to poor governance issues.
“It is currently rejigging its regulatory oversights in the areas of ensuring that consumers get cost effective value for money spent on telecommunication services; and that service delivery by providers are qualitative and efficient.